PART TWO
By Tony Malone (28/7/06)
B - One reason for this was the defensive tactics used by many of the coaches. The use of a 4-5-1 formation was widespread and often led to a team�s downfall. England manager Sven Goran Eriksson�s tactical shortcomings have been well documented; leaving Wayne Rooney up front by himself was not a recipe for world domination. Another guilty culprit was Argentina. By retreating into a more defensive formation due to a fear of Germany�s fast flowing football, the South Americans upset their own rhythm and cost themselves a place in the semi-finals. The only team able to cope with these negative tactics was Italy, well used to a defence-first policy. Perhaps their eventual victory was a direct result of their rivals� lack of conviction in their own style of play.
C - Another reason for these failures was a string of disappointing performances from the game�s biggest stars. Beckham, Ronaldinho, Ballack, van Nistelrooij, Riquelme, Totti and Raul were just some of the players who failed to live up to their reputations. This was a World Cup largely devoid of great match-winning performances, and it seems a little flat, looking back on it now with more perspective. In addition, while some players merely played badly, others disgraced themselves and their teams with their behaviour. Diving, or �simulation� as FIFA prefers to call it, was ever-present, with players such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Arjen Robben always prepared to fall over and roll around at the slightest suggestion of contact. When contact was made, there was no shortage of players surrounding the referee waving imaginary cards and pleading for a sending-off (step forward again, Mr. C. Ronaldo).
D - Of course, having said all this, the World Cup will be remembered for one thing and one thing only � Zinedine Zidane�s attack on Italian defender Marco Materazzi in the final. Zidane, who had been superb in the knock-out games against Spain, Brazil and Portugal, had again played well against the Italians. When he bulleted a header towards the Italian goal in extra-time, he was inches from turning a pretty ordinary World Cup into a fairy-tale finish for the ageing French squad. Instead, Buffon parried the ball over the bar, and, minutes later, the last vision we saw of the great Frenchman was the picture of him walking disconsolately past the trophy he had held aloft eight years earlier. Materazzi is undoubtedly a hero in Italy for his part in the events of the final, but, in reality, he prevented this tournament from being remembered as a good one. At the end of the day, it was only fitting that a well-drilled, but slightly dull, team finished on top after a well-organised, but less than enthralling, competition.
E - When experts look back on this tournament years from now, I fear that those mad moments involving Zidane, Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo and the mass brawls in the Portugal-Netherlands and Germany-Argentina games are all that will be remembered. Ronaldo�s three goals making him the all-time highest World Cup goal scorer, the joy of teams such as Australia, Cote d�Ivoire and Trinidad & Tobago, and the amazing goals by Cambiasso, Rodriguez and Lahm will all be forgotten; only the negative points will linger in the memory, and that is a shame. This World Cup could have been much, much better.